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I’ve seen a bunch of press releases for different flight tracking apps that allow you see where you are mid-flight. These rely on internet connections, so in addition to the price of the app, you have to make sure you are connected to GoGo each time.

But I just saw a press release for an app through Makro Productions that allows you to track yourself in the air without the internet. That is, you can check where you are through airplane mode. Makro Flight Map uses GPS only.

Makro Flight Map’s features include:

* Realtime position of the plane on the map; * Zoomable world map not dependent on a connection to the Internet; * Works when your phone is in Airplane Mode, so it can be used anytime while in flight; * Database of world airports; * Estimated Time to Destination and Time to Arrival, depending on the plane type and position; * Multi-language (currently English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Russian, Chinese, Vietnamese, Czech).

“The difference is that you are holding the tracker in your own hand, on your own device, and you can use it on any flight, whether the airline is offering its own flight tracker or not,” said Makro Productions President Marko Haulis. “This is great for those who love flight trackers but find themselves on flights that do not offer the feature.”

Because the application relies on a database of airports and flight paths downloaded onto one’s device, and the tracking is done via GPS satellites, Flight Map does not require an Internet or data connection to function. That means it can operate in the “Airplane Mode” common to modern smartphones, and not violate rules against mobile phone use during a flight.

This isn’t my seal of approval because I haven’t checked this out yet–it was just released. But this concept is really cool, and I hope it works.

I downloaded and used this last night on the Openskies redeye JFK-ORY. Openskies doesn’t have a flight map – so the app was a nice substitute.

It initially misjudged the travel time….our flight was a fairly long 6:29 planned…but as the trip went on it became more accurate. Obviously it doesn’t account for ATC delays on arrival – but overall a good buy at 99cents. I’m on a Galaxy s4 with a double sized battery. Leaving the GPS on while in airplane mode (with the screen turned off from time to time) took m3 from 50% battery down to about 31% while landing. A regular battery would have probably lost about 40pct of power over the 6.5 hours. I will keep the app – and use this again. Nice find.

Hi Mike, I am the developer of this app. Thanks for your review and for testing it on a longer flight. How much did it initially misjudge the travel time? As there is a fairly complex physical model that calculates the ETA and Time to Destination, we have tested it on shorter flights around Europe mainly. The model does not consider jetstreams, but maybe for longer flights we will have to come up with a way to include them into the equation.

I have tried this years ago with offline maps or even navigation software. Its pretty fun. Havent used any of this apps yet. But I guess it will only work for a small amount of people, which are sitting at a window seat. Never got a gps fix in the center of the plane especially with wide body aircrafts… But seems like a fun idea…